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OPINION

Take the pledge to wait to text

All over the world, technological advances redefine the meaning of the word convenient. What once described an object or service that made our lives easier or saved time has now become a symbol of the rat race of efficiency that each new cell phone app or car safety program attempts to win, being produced at break-neck speed.

Some of these improvements have been tremendously helpful, and some have been tremendously detrimental, but what they all share is their undeniable effect on the neediness of today’s teenagers and children.

As a teenager in 2014, I can honestly admit that a microwaveable dish that takes four minutes seems like a long time. When my cell phone pings with a new text, the several seconds I have to wait for the message to load on screen causes me genuine annoyance, a sentiment many young people would share.

The range of labels for this behavior include words like, “spoiled,” “lazy,” and “needy,” but to me only one word comes to mind: Curious. Kids of today are ravenous for information, having so much knowledge at our fingertips, with so little effort has bred a generation of young people who see a need, or even a want, and turn it into a reality.

A generation of fact-seekers, and inventors, and, bright ideas. Our Achilles Heel, however, is where our desperate curiosity cannot be put on hold. The “It Can Wait” pledge, its message, its declaration, its need, is so important because young people must learn to prioritize safety over curiosity.

Each and every person should solemnly take this pledge as a protection of himself, a protection of those other drivers on the road, a respect to those whose loved ones have lost their lives at the hands of the number one driving distraction in the country, and finally, as a protection of the values of our generation. This pledge represents the line we as young people draw between “spoiled and needy” and eager for knowledge

We must take the pledge to never text and drive at ItCanWait.com. This pledge is the time and opportunity to stand out as a generation and prove that we can use our need to know to improve the world around us, and not as a barrier. This pledge is important because it has the power to save lives and define a generation.

Maryanne Finger is a senior at Greenville High School. She can be reached at Maryanneluna30@gmail.com. This column was written for the It Can Wait writing and video contest that was sponsored by The South Carolina Press Association, AT&T, The Greenville News and other newspapers around South Carolina.